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Ask FlyLady Archive!
This is our archive of the previous weeks Ask FlyLady questions and answers. If you missed a question from last week, this is the place to find it.
Ask FlyLady is one of our favorite parts of FlyLady.net. We get so many questions sent to us everyday, that we have decided to share some of these questions and FlyLady's answers with you. You may be surprised by what she has to say! Enjoy.
Friday, January 2, 2009
First assignment...
Dear FlyLady,
Could you tell me why shining our sink is the our first assignment?
Puzzled FlyBaby
Dear Friend,
Keep in mind that your home did not get dirty in a day and it is not going to get clean overnight. Now listen to me, this is not about being able to clean like your mother. This is about you and finding your pace. No one is going to condemn you! So this is why you have to quiet that nagging voice in your head that continually beats you up because you haven't done sometime right. House work done incorrectly still blesses your family!
Your first assignment is to shine your kitchen sink. I know that this seems like a strange request, but humor me. I promise the first time you catch the sight of your reflection in your shiny sink, you are going to smile!
Shining my sink is where I started. My sweetie hated dishes piled in the sink and no place to get a clean glass for a drink of water. He never fussed! So this was a small gesture on my part to do something nice for him. Little did I know that shining my sink would lead to a whole new joyous way of life! Robert was so impressed with the shiny sink that he came up with the name Sink Reflections! At the time he coined the phrase, it was for the name of a support group. When we were trying to come up with the name for our book, it just seemed like the only obvious choice. I don't like to use the term perfect, but it fit us to a T! For you see, we are not just about cleaning house. It is about finding yourself in the reflection of that shiny
sink. I don't know how it happens, but it does. You start out looking for ways to get your house clean and then before you know it you are smiling from ear to ear each time you walk into your kitchen.
If you have not shined you sink yet then get in there and do this right now.
This is the only cleaning instructions that I will ever give you.
http://flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_Shine.asp
Just so you know, once you get your sink shining, you don't have to do Shiny Sink 101 every single day. I usually just wipe my sink out with my dish cloth or I spray a bit of window cleaner in it each day and SHINE it: This makes me smile.
- FlyLady
Thursday, January 1, 2009
No dishwasher...
Dear FlyLady,
This may sound like a stupid question, but what are you supposed to do if you don't have a dishwasher, I have a family of 5, homeschooled, so all meals, snacks etc. take place here... Am I supposed to wash every dish as soon as it's dirtied (which would mean I'd be at the sink all day). How am I supposed to have a shiny empty sink ? Where do I wash the dishes? Where do I put the dishes waiting to be washed? I've tried, and I love having a shiny sink but it only lasts a few minutes....
Please help,
Donna in B.C.
Dear Friend,
You clean out from under your sink and put a dishpan under there. Put the dirty dishes in the dishpan and then put the dishpan in the sink when it comes time to wash them. All a dishwasher is; is a dirty dish disposal unit.
By the way it does not take all day to wash a dish or a sink full of dirty dishes. That is your perfectionism speaking!
Don't allow your perfectionism to cause you to procrastinate. If you actually timed yourself you would find that washing them as they get dirty will only take a couple of minutes.
- FlyLady
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Christmas Cards...
Dear FlyLady,
All my Christmas decorations have been put away, but what do I do with all the Christmas cards? They are sitting on my desk starring at me wondering what I am going to do with them! AGHHHH!
Flybaby in Texas
Dear Friend,
What is it about Christmas cards that will not allow us to dispose of them as we would any other paper clutter? Is it because they are pretty? Or is it because they are from people we care about. Keep in mind that they are not the people who sent them.
There are lots of things you can do with your cards. You can throw them away, donate them or cut the messages off of them and put the fronts in your wrapping paper and use them as gift tags next year.
For me I just put them in the shredder and get rid of them.
- FlyLady
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Super Fling Boogie...
Dear FlyLady,
How long does the Super Fling Boogie last? I have the stickers for my calendar and I put one on the start date but I am not sure when to put the end one on!
Dear Friend,
Super Fling Boogies last for about two weeks. We started on Tuesday January 2nd and we will end it on....... On December 31, 2007 . We usually do them about three times a year. It is very important that we get the clutter out of our home so we can make room for the peace that comes with our routines. This is why we are going to focus on flinging our clutter all year long. We will keep the pound meter up all year long. The clutter gets in the way of your routines. You can't organize clutter!
We can continue to declutter our homes with 27 Fling Boogies and 5 Minute Room Rescues every day of this year.
I am so proud of each and every one of you who have started to declutter your homes during our Super Fling Boogie.
As you have read many times. I decluttered our home by doing the 27 Fling Boogie several times a week. After several months of this, I ran out of things to give away. When this happens to you. Don't fret. This is how we will keep our clutter habit in check. If you can't find stuff to get rid of, just keep an ever mindful watch on things that are broken and stuff that has not been thrown away. As we work through our zones this month, declutter those hidden areas that no one else sees.
You will find the more you remove the things you don't use and love, the happier and more space you will have for the things you do love.
If you bring home a new blouse, get rid of one that you don't wear anymore. This is a rule that Born Organized people live by; In with the new, out with the old. If you develop this habit, your home will never be cluttered again.
This week's zone is our Kitchens. As my kitchen goes, so goes the rest of the house. This is why I start you cleaning your sink and shining it. I know it sounds stupid, but it works. If you will shine your sink with a cleanser and then polish it with Windex, and promise to keep it that way, you will be so surprised at how clean the rest of your kitchen will become just because of this one shiny sink. The shine is contagious. I dare you to prove me wrong.
Just because we are working on our kitchens this week is no reason to let the rest of the house go. Do your morning and before bed routines. This goes without saying. You always have to get them done before anything else, and this means going to work too. I want every one to be through with their routines as soon as possible after they get up in the morning.
If everyone acted as if they were going to work, we would all get much more accomplished in a day. Many of us, if we have all day to do something, will literally take all day to accomplish it. Why do we drag out jobs that only take a few minutes. This robs us of so much time we could be spending with family and friends.
On an average I spend 15-20 minutes on my morning routine, 10 on my before bed routine and 15 minutes decluttering and working in this week's zone. It only takes spending a few short minutes each day to have a clean house that is presentable to anyone that would come to your door.
Once you have the clutter out of your way, your habits are firmly in place with your routines, and you follow the rules for not junking up your home again, it will happen for you too. Many FlyBabies are finding this is true. All it takes a change in attitude. Once you establish the habit of keeping your clutter weeded out; your home is going to a breeze to keep looking nice.
Have you done your 15 minutes worth of decluttering today! Let's set our timers! Ready! Set! GO ME!!!!
- FlyLady
Monday, December 29, 2008
Homepage...
Dear FlyLady,
Hi, I am trying to find a way to have FLY LADY pop up as the first thing I see when I sign on to the internet. Can you tell me how I can make your page my "Home page?'
Thank you from Sheelah in Montana
Dear Friend,
This is in our FLY FAQs. I just did a Google Search on our website for this. If you have not used our new Google Search Box then you have been missing out of a fun way to find what you want on our website.
How to Make FlyLady.net Your Homepage
If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x for Windows
Go to: Tools/ Internet Options/ General tab.
Place your cursor in the Home page/Address field.
Enter the web address ( http://www.flylady.net/index.asp) into the Address box.
Click OK
If you use an older Windows version, try this:
Go to View/ Options/ Navigation tab.
Select "Start Page" and enter the web address ( http://www.flylady.net/index.asp)
or, go to View/ Internet Options.
Select "Home Page" and enter the web address ( http://www.flylady.net/index.asp) in the Address text box.
If you use Netscape Navigator (4.x)
Go to: Edit/ Preferences/ Navigator.
Place your cursor in the Home Page/Location field.
Enter the web address ( http://www.flylady.net/index.asp)
Click OK
If you use an older Nescape version, try this: Go to: Options/ General Preferences/ Appearance tab
In "Startup", select "Home Page Location".
In the text box below "Home Page Location", enter the web address ( http://www.flylady.net/index.asp)
Click OK
If you use America Online 6.0 (Windows):
Go to: Settings/ Preferences/ Internet Properties (WWW)
In "Home Page", enter the web address ( http://www.flylady.net/index.asp) in the Address text box.
Click OK
If you use an older version of America Online, try this
Go to: My AOL/ Preferences/ WWW
In the Home Page section, enter the web address ( http://www.flylady.net/index.asp) in the Address text box.
Click OK
- FlyLady
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